Access management in a data storage system

ABSTRACT

A method and system for managing access to information stored in a data storage system of an organization is provided. In an embodiment, the data storage system may be configured to receive a request from a requester on a client device to access information stored in the data storage system. In some aspects, upon receiving the request, the first system may determine that an access token identifying the requester is stored in a cache in the data storage system. In some aspects, the data storage system may then retrieve one or more roles from the cache. In some examples, the roles may be associated with the access token. In certain embodiments, the data storage system may then be configured to determine that the requester is authorized to access the information based on the roles and provide the information to the requester on the client device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/622,648, filed on Feb. 13, 2015, entitled “ACCESS MANAGEMENT IN ADATA STORAGE SYSTEM,” which is a non-provisional application of andclaims the benefit and priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/939,657, filed Feb. 13, 2014, entitled“CLOUD STORAGE SERVICES,” the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference for all purposes

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to computer systems andsoftware, and more particularly to techniques for managing access toinformation in an enterprise environment.

Data storage, both from an enterprise and from a consumer perspective,has progressed from locally stored storage systems for each computersystem, to network attached storage which serves as centralized storagefor a number of networked computer systems. These systems are typicallyowned and maintained by the end user, resulting in significant costs andcomplexity for end users to manage. In response, cloud-based storageservices provide secure, elastic, reliable, and cost-effective storagesolutions. With cloud-based storage services, the end user need onlyenroll in the service and the service provider manages the hardware andconfiguration, data security and integrity, etc. This enables users tochange the amount of storage available cheaply and easily, by signing upfor a different level of service. Once enrolled, authorized users and/orapplications can access the data from any Internet-connected device.

In the context of enterprise systems, a user identity generally refersto information that uniquely identifies a user. By providing some ofsuch information, a user may be permitted to access various resourcesavailable within the enterprise. These resources can include, forexample, software products, applications (e.g., cloud-basedapplications, enterprise applications, or any other applications), cloudservices, various types of data (e.g., networked files, directoryinformation, databases, or the like) and other resources. In order toeffectively manage user access to resources within an enterprise, theenterprise often has to keep track of identity information stored inmultiple systems of the enterprise. As such, finding improved ways tomanage user identities and access to available resources within anenterprise continues to be a priority.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In certain embodiments, techniques are provided (e.g., a method, asystem, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code orinstructions executable by one or more processors) for managing accessto information stored in a data storage system of an organization. Inaccordance with at least some embodiments, a first system and a secondsystem are disclosed. In some examples, the first system may correspondto a data storage system in the organization and the second system maycorrespond to an Identity Management (IDM) system in the organization.In some embodiments, the data storage system may be configured tomanage, represent and store data related to the organization. In certainembodiments, the IDM system may be responsible for authenticating usersto the data storage system and also managing user access to informationstored in the data storage system.

In an embodiment, the first system may be configured to receive arequest from a requester (e.g., a user) on a client device to accessinformation stored in the data storage system. In some embodiments, uponreceiving the request, the first system may determine that an accesstoken is stored in a cache in the first system. In some examples, theaccess token may provide an indication to the first system that therequester is authenticated with the first system. In some examples, thefirst system may then retrieve one or more roles stored in the cache. Insome examples, the one or more roles may be associated with the accesstoken. In certain embodiments, the first system may then be configuredto determine that the requester is authorized to access the informationbased on the one or more roles and provide the information to therequester on the client device.

In some embodiments, the first system may be configured to identifycredential information (e.g., a username and password) identifying therequester from the request and provide the credential information to thesecond system (e.g., the IDM system). In certain embodiments, the firstsystem may then be configured to receive the access token from thesecond system and store the access token in the cache. In some examples,the first system may then be configured to provide the access token tothe requester. In some embodiments, the first system may be configuredto receive one or more roles associated with the access token from thesecond system and store the one or more roles in the cache. In someembodiments, the roles may specify an access policy that enables therequester access to information stored in the first system. In someembodiments, the first system may be configured to determine that therequester is authorized to access the information by comparing an accesscontrol list associated with the information with the one or more rolesassociated with the access token.

The techniques described above and below may be implemented in a numberof ways and in a number of contexts. Several example implementations andcontexts are provided with reference to the following figures, asdescribed below in more detail. However, the following implementationsand contexts are but a few of many.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a simplified high level diagram of a network environment100 that may incorporate an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a simplified high-level diagram of an environment 200comprising a data storage system according to another embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flow diagram showing process 300 formanaging the access of information in a data storage system, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram showing process 400 forobtaining an access token for a user of a data storage system, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram showing process 500 forgenerating an access token for a user of a data storage system, inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified diagram of a distributed system 600 forimplementing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of one or more components of asystem environment 700 in which services may be offered as cloudservices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary computer system 800 that may be used toimplement an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofembodiments of the invention. However, it will be apparent that variousembodiments may be practiced without these specific details. The figuresand description are not intended to be restrictive.

FIG. 1 depicts a simplified high level diagram of a network environment100 that may incorporate an embodiment of the present invention. Asshown, network environment 100 may include one or more client devices102(1)-102(N) (collectively, client devices 102) communicatively coupledto a data storage system 104 via a communication network 106. Theembodiment depicted in FIG. 1 is merely an example and is not intendedto unduly limit the claimed embodiments of the present invention. One ofordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations, alternatives,and modifications. For example, there may be more or fewer clientdevices than those shown in FIG. 1.

The client devices may be of various different types, including, but notlimited to personal computers, desktops, mobile or handheld devices suchas a laptop, a mobile phone, a tablet, etc., and other types of devices.Communication network 106 facilitates communications between clientdevices 102 and data storage system 104. Communication network 106 canbe of various types and can include one or more communication networks.Examples of communication network 106 include, without restriction, theInternet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), anEthernet network, a public or private network, a wired network, awireless network, and the like, and combinations thereof. Differentcommunication protocols may be used to facilitate the communicationsincluding both wired and wireless protocols such as IEEE 802.XX suite ofprotocols, TCP/IP, IPX, SAN, AppleTalk, Bluetooth, and other protocols.In general, communication network 106 may include any communicationnetwork or infrastructure that facilitates communications betweenclients and data storage system 104.

In some embodiments, data storage system 104 may include a serviceinterface 108 that may be configured to receive and manage requests fromclient devices 102. Service interface 108 can be a web interface, loadbalancer, or may implement one or more Representational State Transfer(REST) interfaces or any other interface, that mediates requests andresponses between client devices 102 and data storage system 104. Forinstance, service interface 108 may be configured to receive Hyper TextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) requests formatted as REST requests from clientdevices 102 via a REST Application Programming Interface (API).

In some embodiments, data storage system 102 may be configured tomanage, represent and store data related to an organization. In anembodiment, data storage system 102 may include one or more proxy nodes112(1), 112(2), 112(3) . . . 112(n) (collectively, proxy nodes 112). Insome examples, proxy nodes 112 may be implemented as proxy serversconfigured to receive requests from client devices 102 via serviceinterface 108. For example, proxy nodes 112 may be configured to receiverequests for data to be stored in data storage system 102 via serviceinterface 108 from client devices 102. In certain embodiments, proxynodes 112 may be associated with a plurality of storage node clusters114, 116. In an embodiment, storage node clusters 114, 116 may includeone or more storage nodes. For instance, and as shown in FIG.1, storagenode cluster 114 may include storage nodes 114(1) and 114(2) and storagenode cluster 116 may include storage nodes 116(1), 116(2) and 116(3). Insome embodiments, in response to receiving a request from client devices102, data storage system 102 may initiate, in parallel, the storage ofthe data on one or more storage node clusters (114, 116). Data storagesystem 104 may then be configured to store the data on the storage nodeclusters (114, 116) and respond to client devices 102 that the data hasbeen stored.

In certain embodiments, proxy nodes 112 may be configured to receiverequests from client devices 102 to access information and/or data orobjects stored in data storage system 104. This information may includefor example, networked files (such as text files, images, videos or thelike), directory information, databases, or the like. Data storagesystem 104 may then be configured to provide the data to the clientdevices in response to the request.

The various proxy nodes, storage node clusters and storage nodes of datastorage system 104 depicted in FIG. 1 are meant for illustrativepurposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments ofthe present invention. Alternative embodiments may include more or fewerproxy nodes, storage node clusters and storage nodes than those shown inFIG. 1. Similarly, the connection of proxy nodes 112(1) and 112(2) tostorage node cluster-1 and proxy nodes 112(3) and 112(N) to storage nodecluster-2 in FIG.1 are meant for illustrative purposes only. Inalternate embodiments, proxy nodes 112(1) . . . 112(N) may be connectedto either or both storage node clusters 114 and 116.

In certain embodiments, the storage nodes within storage node clusters114, 116 may be implemented as separate physical nodes. In otherembodiments, the storage nodes may each be virtual nodes executing on asingle physical node (e.g., the storage nodes may be software nodesimplemented on one or more virtual machines executing on a singlehardware computing device). In an embodiment, the storage nodes may beconfigured to store the information that incoming requests from users ofclient devices 102 wish to access.

In some embodiments, data storage system 104 can include a configurationand installation framework. During set up, a user, such as anadministrator, can interface with the configuration and installationframework through an administrative console. The configuration andinstallation framework can automatically set up, or update, the nodes indata storage system 104 using configuration information in aconfiguration file (e.g., a configuration script). A configuration filecan be received as input to the configuration and installation frameworkfrom the administrative console. The configuration file can definemultiple types of nodes in a cluster. For example, types of nodes caninclude storage nodes (e.g., nodes that include computer readablestorage media for storing data), proxy nodes (e.g., nodes that handlerequests for data stored on storage nodes), and master/admin proxy nodes(e.g., nodes that manage cluster configuration and account configurationdata). Additionally, in some embodiments, the configuration andinstallation framework can be used to update the nodes in the datastorage system 104 using an updated configuration file.

In some embodiments, proxy nodes 112 may be configured to determine if arequest from client devices 102 includes an access token that identifiesa user with data storage system 104. In some embodiments, the accesstoken may be generated by identity management (IDM) system 110 andprovided to data storage system 104. The manner in which IDM system 110may generate access tokens is discussed in detail in relation to FIG. 2.In some embodiments, upon determining that the request includes anaccess token, proxy nodes 112 may be configured to search cache 118 ofdata storage system 104 to determine if the access token is stored inthe cache. In some embodiments, cache 118 may be a caching server indata storage system 104 configured to store access tokens associatedwith users and user information (e.g., roles and/or access policies)associated with the users in temporary storage. By caching the accesstoken and user information, the number of calls to IDM system 110 may bereduced, improving the processing of requests by the system.

If an access token related to the request is stored in cache 118, insome examples, proxy nodes 112 may then be configured to determine thevalidity of the access token. For instance, the access token may beactive for a finite duration (e.g., 30 seconds) after which it may needto be re-generated. In certain embodiments, after checking the validityof the access token, proxy nodes 112 may be configured to retrieve oneor more roles 122 associated with the access token 120 from cache 118.Proxy nodes 112 may then be configured to determine the appropriatestorage node that has the requested information. In certain embodiments,proxy nodes 112 may then be configured to determine that the user isauthorized to access the information based on the one or more rolesassociated with the access token and an access control list (ACL)associated with the requested information (object) in the storage node.In some embodiments, upon determining that the user is authorized toaccess the information, proxy nodes 112 may be configured to provide theinformation to the user on client device 102. For example, proxy nodes112 may be configured to provide a response that includes theinformation and/or data to the client device via service interface 108.Additional details of the manner in which information in a data storagesystem is managed and accessed is discussed in detail in relation toFIG. 2.

By storing information (e.g., user roles and/or access policies)associated with users in a cache in data storage system 104 andassociating the information with access tokens that identify the users,proxy nodes 112 do not need to request IDM system 110 for thisinformation each time a request is received from the user. Accordingly,the storage of access tokens and user roles and/or access policiesassociated with the access tokens in a cache in data storage system 104minimizes network delays for end-users requesting for information fromthe data storage system and improves overall network performance.

In certain embodiments, IDM system 110 may be responsible forauthenticating users to data storage system 104 and also managing useraccess to information stored in data storage system 104. IDM system 110may comprise one or more computers and/or servers which may be generalpurpose computers, specialized server computers (including, by way ofexample, PC servers, UNIX servers, mid-range servers, mainframecomputers, rack-mounted servers, etc.), server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination. The computingdevices that make up identity management system 110 may include avariety of additional server applications and/or mid-tier applications,including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, Java servers, databaseservers, and the like. Exemplary database servers include withoutlimitation those commercially available from Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase,IBM and the like. Additional details of the manner in which requests forinformation may be received and managed by data storage system 104 andIDM system 110 is discussed in detail in relation to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 depicts a simplified high-level diagram of an environment 200comprising a data storage system according to another embodiment of thepresent invention. The data storage system may be the same or similar todata storage system 104 described in FIG. 1. In the embodiment depictedin FIG. 2, data storage system 208 may include a proxy server component212 that comprises one or more proxy nodes and a storage servercomponent 214 that comprises one or more storage nodes. As noted above,the proxy nodes and storage nodes may be implemented as general purposecomputers, specialized server computers, server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination. The variouscomponents of data storage system depicted in FIG. 2 are meant forillustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments of the present invention. Alternative embodiments mayinclude more or fewer components than those shown in FIG. 2.

In accordance with at least some embodiments, a requester (e.g., a user)operating a client device such as client device 202 may utilize anapplication on client device 202 to request for information stored indata storage system 208. For example, the requester may access a userinterface, such as request user interface (UI) 206 via a browserapplication 204 on client device 202 to request for information. Clientdevice 202 may be the same or similar as client devices 102 discussed inrelation to FIG. 1. In some examples, the request may include a HTTPrequest that may include credential information (e.g., username andpassword) identifying the requester. In some examples, the request mayalso include a URL that specifies a location of the requestedinformation in the data storage system. For instance, the URL mayspecify a location of an object in data storage system 208 where theinformation is stored. In an embodiment, one of the proxy nodes in proxyserver component 212 may be configured to receive the request viaservice interface 210 and transmit the request to identity management(IDM) system 218. Service interface 210 may be the same as or similar toservice interface 108 described in FIG. 1. Similarly, IDM system 218 maybe the same or similar to IDM system 110 described in FIG. 1.

In certain embodiments, IDM system 218 may be configured to confirm theidentity of the user by verifying the credential information provided inthe request against an LDAP directory service 220. In some examples,LDAP directory service 220 may act as a central repository of userinformation for applications utilized by client device 202 to accessinformation stored in data storage system 208. In an embodiment, LDAPdirectory service 220 may be a software application, or a set ofapplications that stores, among other information, identity managementinformation necessary to authenticate requesters (e.g., users) to datastorage system 208. Identity management information may include useridentity information, user security information and account stateinformation. User identity information may include, for example, a username and/or an email address associated with the user. User securityinformation may include, for example, a password, secure token,fingerprint information and the like associated with the user. In someembodiments, the user identity information may be stored as entrieswithin LDAP directory service 220 which may be accessed by data storagesystem 208 according to a predefined protocol. In some embodiments, LDAPdirectory service 220 may be accessed in accordance with and implementedusing a protocol such as LDAP (lightweight directory access protocol).

In some embodiments, IDM system 218 may include an access control policydatabase 224. In some examples, access control policy database 224 maydefine one or more roles that specify a set of privileges and/or accessrights that users of a specific role within the organization have accessto. For instance, access control policy database may define a ‘salesmanager’ role for a user that enables the user to view sales statisticsand employee information stored in a particular storage node of datastorage system 104 but not enable the user to modify the information. Insome embodiments, access control policy database 224 may also includeaccount state information associated with users of the organization.Account state information may include for example, the number and typeof accounts provisioned to users of the organization. Account stateinformation may also include information such as the number of failedauthentication attempts for a particular user, the time between failedauthentication attempts and other information necessary to implementaccess control policies in LDAP directory service 220.

As noted above, in some embodiments, IDM system 218 may be configured toreceive user identity information (e.g., credentials such as a usernameand password) from proxy server component 212. In some instances, uponreceiving the user identity information, IDM system 218 may beconfigured to search for the user by passing the user identityinformation to LDAP directory service by an operation defined in theprotocol used to interact with the LDAP directory service. For example,in LDAP directory service 220, a search operation may be performed by anLDAP search operation. LDAP directory service 220 may then search theentries stored within its directory structure to determine if an entrymatches the user identity information. If no match is found, theauthentication request fails and IDM system 218 reports backs to datastorage system 208 that the identity information submitted by the useris not recognized by the IDM system.

If a match for the user identity information is found in LDAP directoryservice 220, in some embodiments, LDAP directory service 220 maygenerate an access token for the user, which the user may utilize tomake subsequent requests for information stored in data storage system.In some examples, the access token may be a hash value (one-wayfunction) of the user's security information. Thus, if the securityinformation is the user's password, the access token may be a numbergenerated by running the password through a one-way hash function. Inother examples, the access token may be a 128-bit random number that isgenerated by LDAP directory service 220. In some embodiments, when amatch for the user identity information is found in LDAP directoryservice 220, IDM system 218 may be configured to transmit an‘authentication successful’ message to the proxy server component. Proxyserver component 212 may then be configured to generate the access tokenfor the user. In some embodiments, the authentication successful messageto the proxy server component may include token information (e.g.,expiry time, user identity information, verification and/or validationdata, etc.) which may be used by the proxy server component whengenerating the access token.

As described above, when a proxy server receives a request from a user,the proxy server can determine whether a token is associated with theuser. Previous systems merely determined whether a token was present,without validating the token or performing any additional checks on thetoken. To address this issue, in some embodiments, the data storagesystem 208 may maintain a private symmetrical encryption key. When aproxy server component generates an access token, the access token maybe encrypted using the private symmetrical encryption key prior toreturning the access token to the client device 202. The encrypted tokenmay include token information (e.g., expiry time, user identityinformation, verification and/or validation data, etc.). In someembodiments, the validation data can include non-identifying informationincluded by the proxy server component to be used to validate the accesstoken during subsequent requests. When the access token is providedsubsequently as part of a request, the access token may be decrypted bythe proxy server component and the validation data can be checked toensure the integrity of the token This provides secure end-to-end tokenprocessing by proxy server components to validate tokens, in addition toexistence checks.

In some embodiments, IDM system 218 may be configured to manage tokenencryption. The IDM system may generate an encryption key pair for theaccess token. The encryption key pair may include an encryption key forencrypting the token and a decryption key for validating the token. Insome examples, IDM system 218 may be configured to use the encryptionkey to encrypt a hash value of the user's security information to createa digital signature. IDM system 218 may then be configured to transmitthe encrypted token along with the digital signature to proxy servercomponent 212. In some embodiments, proxy server component 212 may beconfigured to decrypt the token by extracting the decryption key anddecrypting the digital signature. Upon successful verification of thedigital signature, proxy server component 212 may be configured toauthorize the user's access information stored in the proxy servercomponent 212.

In some embodiments, IDM system 218 may be configured to identify one ormore roles associated with the access token. In some embodiments, theroles may specify a set of privileges and/or access rights that users ofa specific role within the organization have access to. For example, anaccess token for a user may be associated with a ‘Sales Manager’ roleand a ‘Human Resources Manager’ role. The ‘Sales Manager’ role mayenable the user to view sales information and reports associated theorganization but not enable the user modify the information. The ‘HumanResources Manager’ role may enable a user to view and modify employeeinformation within the organization.

In some embodiments, IDM system 218 may then be configured to transmitthe access token and the one or more roles associated with the accesstoken to data storage system 208. In some embodiments, IDM system 218may also be configured to transmit information associated with theaccess token such as the expiry time associated with the access token.In certain embodiments, one or more proxy nodes in proxy servercomponent 212 in data storage system 208 may be configured to receivethe access token and the one or more roles associated with the accesstoken from IDM system 218. Proxy server component 212 may then beconfigured to store the access token 226 and the one or more roles 228associated with the access token in cache 216 in data storage system208. By caching the access token and user information, the number ofcalls to IDM system 110 and/or LDAP directory service 220 may bereduced, improving the processing of requests by the system. In someembodiments, proxy server component 212 may then be configured todetermine the appropriate storage node in data storage system 208 thathas the requested information and retrieve the access control list forthe requested information (object). As described herein, an accesscontrol list may include a list of permissions attached to the objectthat specifies which users are granted access to the object as well asthe operations that the users may perform on the object. For instance,an access control list for a ‘file’ object stored in data storage systemmay enable a first user to read and write to the file but enable asecond user to only read the file.

In certain embodiments, proxy server component 212 may then beconfigured to determine whether the user is authorized to access theobject by comparing the one or more roles associated with the accesstoken to the access control list associated with the object. Forinstance, proxy server component 212 may determine that the user isauthorized to access an object (e.g., an employee file) stored in datastorage system 208 if, for example, the access token associated with theuser is associated with a ‘Human Resource Manager’ role, and the accesscontrol list of the object (e.g., an employee file) enables the user toread and write to the file. In some embodiments, upon determining thatthe user is authorized to access the object, proxy server component 212may then be configured to provide the information to the user on clientdevice 202 via service interface 210.

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate example flow diagrams showing processes 300, 400and 400 for managing the access of information stored in a data storagesystem. The processes are illustrated as logical flow diagrams, eachoperation of which represents a sequence of operations that can beimplemented in hardware, computer instructions, or a combinationthereof. In the context of computer instructions, the operationsrepresent computer-executable instructions stored on one or morecomputer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, perform the recited operations. Generally,computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, and the like that perform particularfunctions or implement particular data types. The order in which theoperations are described is not intended to be construed as alimitation, and any number of the described operations can be combinedin any order and/or in parallel to implement the processes.

Additionally, some, any, or all of the processes may be performed underthe control of one or more computer systems configured with executableinstructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executableinstructions, one or more computer programs, or one or moreapplications) executing collectively on one or more processors, byhardware, or combinations thereof. As noted above, the code may bestored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the formof a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executableby one or more processors. The computer-readable storage medium may benon-transitory.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flow diagram showing process 300 formanaging the access of information stored in a data storage system, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In someaspects, the process 300 of FIG. 3 may be performed by one or more proxynodes of data storage system 104, 208 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2respectively. The process 300 may begin by receiving a request forinformation stored in the data storage system by a requester (e.g., auser) at 302. As noted above, the user may utilize a computing device(e.g., client device 102, 202) to request for information (e.g., a file,an image, a video and the like) via a user interface (e.g., request UI202) on the user's computing device. At 304, the process 300 may includedetermining if the request includes an access token. If the request doesnot include an access token, then, in some embodiments, process 400 maybe performed to obtain a new access token. The manner in which an accesstoken may be obtained is discussed in detail in relation to FIG. 4. Ifthe request includes an access token, then at 306, the process 300 mayinclude determining if a valid access token is stored in the cache(e.g., 118, 216 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 respectively) If the accesstoken stored in the cache is no longer valid (i.e., it has expired),then, in some embodiments, process 400 discussed in FIG. 4 may beperformed to obtain a new access token. In some embodiments, uponobtaining a new access token, process 308 may be performed to retrieveone or more roles associated with the access token from the cache at308.

If the request includes an access token and a valid access token isstored in the cache, then in some embodiments, at 308, the process 300may include retrieving one or more roles associated with the accesstoken from the cache. At 310, the process 300 may include comparing theroles associated with the access token with an access control listassociated with the requested information (object) stored in the datastorage system. At 312, the process 300 may include determining if theuser is authorized to access the information based on the comparison. Ifthe user is not authorized to access the information, then at 314, theprocess may include notifying the user that the user has been deniedaccess to the information. If the user is authorized to access theinformation, then at 316, the process at 300 may include providing theinformation to the user on client device (e.g., 102, 202).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram showing process 400 forobtaining an access token for a user of a data storage system, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In someaspects, the process 400 of FIG. 4 may be performed by one or more proxynodes of data storage system 104, 208 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2respectively. The process 400 may begin at 402 by identifying credentialinformation (e.g., a username and a password) in the request receivedfrom a user operating client device (e.g., 102, 202). At 404, theprocess 400 may include providing the user credentials to the IDM system(e.g., 110, 218 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 respectively). At 406, theprocess 400 may include obtaining an access token from the IDM system.The manner in which an access token may be generated by the IDM systemis discussed in detail in FIG. 5. In some embodiments, at 408, theprocess 400 may include storing the access token in a cache (e.g., 118,216 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 respectively). In certain embodiments, at410, the process 400 may include obtaining one or more roles associatedwith the access token from the IDM system. At 412, the process 400 mayinclude storing the roles in the cache.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram showing process 500 forgenerating an access token for a user of a data storage system, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In some aspects,the process 500 of FIG. 5 may be performed by IDM system 110, 218 shownin FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively. In some examples, the process 500 maybegin at 502 by receiving user credentials from the data storage system(e.g., 104, 208 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively). At 504, theprocess 500 may include searching for the user in an LDAP directoryservice (e.g., 220) as described in FIG. 2. At 506, the process 500 mayinclude determining if the user exists in the LDAP directory. If theuser does not exist, then the process 500 may include notifying the datastorage system of the failure of the user's authentication with the datastorage system at 508. If the user exists in the LDAP directory and hasbeen authenticated with the data storage system, then at 510, theprocess 500 may include generating an access token for the user. At 512,the process 500 may include transmitting the access token to the datastorage system. In some examples, at 514, the process 500 may includeidentifying the set of roles associated with the access token from anaccess control policy database (e.g., 224). At 518, the process 500 mayinclude transmitting the roles to the data storage system.

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified diagram of a distributed system 600 forimplementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustratedembodiment, the distributed system 600 includes one or more clientcomputing devices 602, 604, 606, and 608, which are configured toexecute and operate a client application such as a web browser,proprietary client (e.g., Oracle Forms), or the like over one or morenetwork(s) 610. The server 612 may be communicatively coupled with theremote client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and 608 via network 610.

In various embodiments, the server 612 may be adapted to run one or moreservices or software applications such as services and applications thatprovide storage management services and identity management services. Incertain embodiments, the server 612 may also provide other services orsoftware applications can include non-virtual and virtual environments.In some embodiments, these services may be offered as web-based or cloudservices or under a Software as a Service (SaaS) model to the users ofthe client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608. Users operatingthe client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608 may in turnutilize one or more client applications to interact with the server 612to utilize the services provided by these components.

In the configuration depicted in FIG. 6, the software components 618,620 and 622 of system 600 are shown as being implemented on the server612. In other embodiments, one or more of the components of the system600 and/or the services provided by these components may also beimplemented by one or more of the client computing devices 602, 604,606, and/or 608. Users operating the client computing devices may thenutilize one or more client applications to use the services provided bythese components. These components may be implemented in hardware,firmware, software, or combinations thereof. It should be appreciatedthat various different system configurations are possible, which may bedifferent from distributed system 600. The embodiment shown in FIG. 10is thus one example of a distributed system for implementing anembodiment system and is not intended to be limiting.

The client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608 may includevarious types of computing systems. For example, client device mayinclude portable handheld devices (e.g., an iPhone®, cellular telephone,an iPad®, computing tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA)) orwearable devices (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounted display), runningsoftware such as Microsoft Windows Mobile®, and/or a variety of mobileoperating systems such as iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 10,Palm OS, and the like. The devices may support various applications suchas various Internet-related apps, e-mail, short message service (SMS)applications, and may use various other communication protocols. Theclient computing devices may also include general purpose personalcomputers including, by way of example, personal computers and/or laptopcomputers running various versions of Microsoft Windows®, AppleMacintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems. The client computing devicescan be workstation computers running any of a variety ofcommercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems, includingwithout limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems, such asfor example, Google Chrome OS. Client computing devices may also includeelectronic devices such as a thin-client computer, an Internet-enabledgaming system (e.g., a Microsoft Xbox gaming console with or without aKinect® gesture input device), and/or a personal messaging device,capable of communicating over the network(s) 610.

Although distributed system 600 in FIG. 6 is shown with four clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices, such as devices with sensors, etc., mayinteract with the server 612.

The network(s) 610 in the distributed system 600 may be any type ofnetwork familiar to those skilled in the art that can support datacommunications using any of a variety of available protocols, includingwithout limitation TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internetprotocol), SNA (systems network architecture), IPX (Internet packetexchange), AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, thenetwork(s) 610 can be a local area network (LAN), networks based onEthernet, Token-Ring, a wide-area network, the Internet, a virtualnetwork, a virtual private network (VPN), an intranet, an extranet, apublic switched telephone network (PSTN), an infra-red network, awireless network (e.g., a network operating under any of the Instituteof Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) 1002.11 suite of protocols,Bluetooth®, and/or any other wireless protocol), and/or any combinationof these and/or other networks.

The server 612 may be composed of one or more general purpose computers,specialized server computers (including, by way of example, PC (personalcomputer) servers, UNIX® servers, mid-range servers, mainframecomputers, rack-mounted servers, etc.), server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination. The server 612can include one or more virtual machines running virtual operatingsystems, or other computing architectures involving virtualization. Oneor more flexible pools of logical storage devices can be virtualized tomaintain virtual storage devices for the server. Virtual networks can becontrolled by the server 612 using software defined networking. Invarious embodiments, the server 612 may be adapted to run one or moreservices or software applications described in the foregoing disclosure.For example, the server 612 may correspond to a server for performingprocessing as described above according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

The server 612 may run an operating system including any of thosediscussed above, as well as any commercially available server operatingsystem. Server 109 may also run any of a variety of additional serverapplications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP (hypertexttransport protocol) servers, FTP (file transfer protocol) servers, CGI(common gateway interface) servers, JAVA® servers, database servers, andthe like. Exemplary database servers include without limitation thosecommercially available from Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM(International Business Machines), and the like.

In some implementations, the server 612 may include one or moreapplications to analyze and consolidate data feeds and/or event updatesreceived from users of the client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and608. As an example, data feeds and/or event updates may include, but arenot limited to, Twitter® feeds, Facebook® updates or real-time updatesreceived from one or more third party information sources and continuousdata streams, which may include real-time events related to sensor dataapplications, financial tickers, network performance measuring tools(e.g., network monitoring and traffic management applications),clickstream analysis tools, automobile traffic monitoring, and the like.The server 612 may also include one or more applications to display thedata feeds and/or real-time events via one or more display devices ofthe client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and 608.

The distributed system 600 may also include one or more databases 614and 616. These databases may provide a mechanism for storing informationsuch as user identity information, and other information used byembodiments of the present invention. Databases 614 and 616 may residein a variety of locations. By way of example, one or more of databases614 and 616 may reside on a non-transitory storage medium local to(and/or resident in) the server 612. Alternatively, the databases 614and 616 may be remote from the server 612 and in communication with theserver 612 via a network-based or dedicated connection. In one set ofembodiments, the databases 614 and 616 may reside in a storage-areanetwork (SAN). Similarly, any necessary files for performing thefunctions attributed to the server 612 may be stored locally on theserver 612 and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set of embodiments,the databases 614 and 616 may include relational databases, such asdatabases provided by Oracle, that are adapted to store, update, andretrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.

In some embodiments, the storage services and identity managementservices described above may be offered as services via a cloudenvironment. FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of one or morecomponents of a system environment 700 in which services may be offeredas cloud services, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the illustrated embodiment in FIG. 7, system environment700 includes one or more client computing devices 704, 706, and 708 thatmay be used by users to interact with a cloud infrastructure system 702that provides cloud services, including services for managing thestorage of data stored in a data storage system of an organization.Cloud infrastructure system 702 may comprise one or more computersand/or servers that may include those described above for server 612.

It should be appreciated that cloud infrastructure system 702 depictedin FIG. 7 may have other components than those depicted. Further, theembodiment shown in FIG. 7 is only one example of a cloud infrastructuresystem that may incorporate an embodiment of the invention. In someother embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may have more orfewer components than shown in the figure, may combine two or morecomponents, or may have a different configuration or arrangement ofcomponents.

Client computing devices 704, 706, and 708 may be devices similar tothose described above for 602, 604, 606, and 608. Client computingdevices 704, 706, and 708 may be configured to operate a clientapplication such as a web browser, a proprietary client application(e.g., Oracle® Forms), or some other application, which may be used by auser of the client computing device to interact with cloudinfrastructure system 702 to use services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 702. Although exemplary system environment 700 isshown with three client computing devices, any number of clientcomputing devices may be supported. Other devices such as devices withsensors, etc. may interact with cloud infrastructure system 702.

Network(s) 710 may facilitate communications and exchange of databetween clients 704, 706, and 708 and cloud infrastructure system 702.Each network may be any type of network familiar to those skilled in theart that can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including those described above fornetwork(s) 610.

In certain embodiments, services provided by cloud infrastructure system702 may include a host of services that are made available to users ofthe cloud infrastructure system on demand. In addition to servicesrelated to identity management, various other services may also beoffered including without limitation online data storage and backupsolutions, Web-based e-mail services, hosted office suites and documentcollaboration services, database processing, managed technical supportservices, and the like. Services provided by the cloud infrastructuresystem can dynamically scale to meet the needs of its users.

In certain embodiments, a specific instantiation of a service providedby cloud infrastructure system 702 may be referred to herein as a“service instance.” In general, any service made available to a user viaa communication network, such as the Internet, from a cloud serviceprovider's system is referred to as a “cloud service.” Typically, in apublic cloud environment, servers and systems that make up the cloudservice provider's system are different from the customer's ownon-premises servers and systems. For example, a cloud service provider'ssystem may host an application, and a user may, via a communicationnetwork such as the Internet, on demand, order and use the application.

In some examples, a service in a computer network cloud infrastructuremay include protected computer network access to storage, a hosteddatabase, a hosted web server, a software application, or other serviceprovided by a cloud vendor to a user, or as otherwise known in the art.For example, a service can include password-protected access to remotestorage on the cloud through the Internet. As another example, a servicecan include a web service-based hosted relational database and ascript-language middleware engine for private use by a networkeddeveloper. As another example, a service can include access to an emailsoftware application hosted on a cloud vendor's web site.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may include asuite of applications, middleware, and database service offerings thatare delivered to a customer in a self-service, subscription-based,elastically scalable, reliable, highly available, and secure manner. Anexample of such a cloud infrastructure system is the Oracle Public Cloudprovided by the present assignee.

Cloud infrastructure system 702 may also provide “big data” relatedcomputation and analysis services. The term “big data” is generally usedto refer to extremely large data sets that can be stored and manipulatedby analysts and researchers to visualize large amounts of data, detecttrends, and/or otherwise interact with the data. This big data andrelated applications can be hosted and/or manipulated by aninfrastructure system on many levels and at different scales. Tens,hundreds, or thousands of processors linked in parallel can act uponsuch data in order to present it or simulate external forces on the dataor what it represents. These data sets can involve structured data, suchas that organized in a database or otherwise according to a structuredmodel, and/or unstructured data (e.g., emails, images, data blobs(binary large objects), web pages, complex event processing). Byleveraging an ability of an embodiment to relatively quickly focus more(or fewer) computing resources upon an objective, the cloudinfrastructure system may be better available to carry out tasks onlarge data sets based on demand from a business, government agency,research organization, private individual, group of like-mindedindividuals or organizations, or other entity.

In various embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may be adaptedto automatically provision, manage and track a customer's subscriptionto services offered by cloud infrastructure system 702. Cloudinfrastructure system 702 may provide the cloud services via differentdeployment models. For example, services may be provided under a publiccloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 702 is owned by anorganization selling cloud services (e.g., owned by Oracle Corporation)and the services are made available to the general public or differentindustry enterprises. As another example, services may be provided undera private cloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 702 isoperated solely for a single organization and may provide services forone or more entities within the organization. The cloud services mayalso be provided under a community cloud model in which cloudinfrastructure system 702 and the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 702 are shared by several organizations in arelated community. The cloud services may also be provided under ahybrid cloud model, which is a combination of two or more differentmodels.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 702 may include one or more services provided under Software as aService (SaaS) category, Platform as a Service (PaaS) category,Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category, or other categories ofservices including hybrid services. A customer, via a subscriptionorder, may order one or more services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 702. Cloud infrastructure system 702 then performs processing toprovide the services in the customer's subscription order.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 702 may include, without limitation, application services,platform services and infrastructure services. In some examples,application services may be provided by the cloud infrastructure systemvia a SaaS platform. The SaaS platform may be configured to providecloud services that fall under the SaaS category. For example, the SaaSplatform may provide capabilities to build and deliver a suite ofon-demand applications on an integrated development and deploymentplatform. The SaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the SaaS services. Byutilizing the services provided by the SaaS platform, customers canutilize applications executing on the cloud infrastructure system.Customers can acquire the application services without the need forcustomers to purchase separate licenses and support. Various differentSaaS services may be provided. Examples include, without limitation,services that provide solutions for sales performance management,enterprise integration, and business flexibility for largeorganizations.

In some embodiments, platform services may be provided by cloudinfrastructure system 702 via a PaaS platform. The PaaS platform may beconfigured to provide cloud services that fall under the PaaS category.Examples of platform services may include without limitation servicesthat enable organizations (such as Oracle) to consolidate existingapplications on a shared, common architecture, as well as the ability tobuild new applications that leverage the shared services provided by theplatform. The PaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the PaaS services. Customerscan acquire the PaaS services provided by cloud infrastructure system702 without the need for customers to purchase separate licenses andsupport. Examples of platform services include, without limitation,Oracle Java Cloud Service (JCS), Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS),and others.

By utilizing the services provided by the PaaS platform, customers canemploy programming languages and tools supported by the cloudinfrastructure system and also control the deployed services. In someembodiments, platform services provided by the cloud infrastructuresystem may include database cloud services, middleware cloud services(e.g., Oracle Fusion Middleware services), and Java cloud services. Inone embodiment, database cloud services may support shared servicedeployment models that enable organizations to pool database resourcesand offer customers a Database as a Service in the form of a databasecloud. Middleware cloud services may provide a platform for customers todevelop and deploy various business applications, and Java cloudservices may provide a platform for customers to deploy Javaapplications, in the cloud infrastructure system.

Various different infrastructure services may be provided by an IaaSplatform in the cloud infrastructure system. The infrastructure servicesfacilitate the management and control of the underlying computingresources, such as storage, networks, and other fundamental computingresources for customers utilizing services provided by the SaaS platformand the PaaS platform.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may also includeinfrastructure resources 730 for providing the resources used to providevarious services to customers of the cloud infrastructure system. In oneembodiment, infrastructure resources 730 may include pre-integrated andoptimized combinations of hardware, such as servers, storage, andnetworking resources to execute the services provided by the PaaSplatform and the SaaS platform, and other resources.

In some embodiments, resources in cloud infrastructure system 702 may beshared by multiple users and dynamically re-allocated per demand.Additionally, resources may be allocated to users in different timezones. For example, cloud infrastructure system 702 may enable a firstset of users in a first time zone to utilize resources of the cloudinfrastructure system for a specified number of hours and then enablethe re-allocation of the same resources to another set of users locatedin a different time zone, thereby maximizing the utilization ofresources.

In certain embodiments, a number of internal shared services 732 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 702 to enable provision of services by cloudinfrastructure system 702. These internal shared services may include,without limitation, a security and identity service, an integrationservice, an enterprise repository service, an enterprise managerservice, a virus scanning and white list service, a high availability,backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloud support, anemail service, a notification service, a file transfer service, and thelike.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may providecomprehensive management of cloud services (e.g., SaaS, PaaS, and IaaSservices) in the cloud infrastructure system. In one embodiment, cloudmanagement functionality may include capabilities for provisioning,managing and tracking a customer's subscription received by cloudinfrastructure system 702, and the like.

In one embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 7, cloud management functionalitymay be provided by one or more modules, such as an order managementmodule 720, an order orchestration module 722, an order provisioningmodule 724, an order management and monitoring module 726, and anidentity management module 728. These modules may include or be providedusing one or more computers and/or servers, which may be general purposecomputers, specialized server computers, server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination.

In an exemplary operation, at 734, a customer using a client device,such as client device 704, 706 or 708, may interact with cloudinfrastructure system 702 by requesting one or more services provided bycloud infrastructure system 702 and placing an order for a subscriptionfor one or more services offered by cloud infrastructure system 702. Incertain embodiments, the customer may access a cloud User Interface (UI)such as cloud UI 712, cloud UI 714 and/or cloud UI 716 and place asubscription order via these UIs. The order information received bycloud infrastructure system 702 in response to the customer placing anorder may include information identifying the customer and one or moreservices offered by the cloud infrastructure system 702 that thecustomer intends to subscribe to.

At 736, the order information received from the customer may be storedin an order database 718. If this is a new order, a new record may becreated for the order. In one embodiment, order database 718 can be oneof several databases operated by cloud infrastructure system 718 andoperated in conjunction with other system elements.

At 738, the order information may be forwarded to an order managementmodule 720 that may be configured to perform billing and accountingfunctions related to the order, such as verifying the order, and uponverification, booking the order.

At 740, information regarding the order may be communicated to an orderorchestration module 722 that is configured to orchestrate theprovisioning of services and resources for the order placed by thecustomer. In some instances, order orchestration module 722 may use theservices of order provisioning module 724 for the provisioning. Incertain embodiments, order orchestration module 722 enables themanagement of business processes associated with each order and appliesbusiness logic to determine whether an order should proceed toprovisioning.

As shown in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 7, at 742, upon receiving anorder for a new subscription, order orchestration module 722 sends arequest to order provisioning module 724 to allocate resources andconfigure resources needed to fulfill the subscription order. Orderprovisioning module 724 enables the allocation of resources for theservices ordered by the customer. Order provisioning module 724 providesa level of abstraction between the cloud services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 700 and the physical implementation layer that isused to provision the resources for providing the requested services.This enables order orchestration module 724 to be isolated fromimplementation details, such as whether or not services and resourcesare actually provisioned on the fly or pre-provisioned and onlyallocated/assigned upon request.

At 744, once the services and resources are provisioned, a notificationmay be sent to the subscribing customers indicating that the requestedservice is now ready for use. In some instance, information (e.g. alink) may be sent to the customer that enables the customer to startusing the requested services.

At 746, a customer's subscription order may be managed and tracked by anorder management and monitoring module 726. In some instances, ordermanagement and monitoring module 726 may be configured to collect usagestatistics regarding a customer use of subscribed services. For example,statistics may be collected for the amount of storage used, the amountdata transferred, the number of users, and the amount of system up timeand system down time, and the like.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 700 may include anidentity management module 728 that is configured to provide identityservices, such as access management and authorization services in cloudinfrastructure system 700. In some embodiments, identity managementmodule 728 may control information about customers who wish to utilizethe services provided by cloud infrastructure system 702. Suchinformation can include information that authenticates the identities ofsuch customers and information that describes which actions thosecustomers are authorized to perform relative to various system resources(e.g., files, directories, applications, communication ports, memorysegments, etc.) Identity management module 728 may also include themanagement of descriptive information about each customer and about howand by whom that descriptive information can be accessed and modified.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary computer system 800 that may be used toimplement an embodiment of the present invention. In some embodiments,computer system 800 may be used to implement any of the various serversand computer systems described above. As shown in FIG. 8, computersystem 800 includes various subsystems including a processing subsystem804 that communicates with a number of peripheral subsystems via a bussubsystem 802. These peripheral subsystems may include a processingacceleration unit 806, an I/O subsystem 808, a storage subsystem 818 anda communications subsystem 824. Storage subsystem 818 may includetangible computer-readable storage media 822 and a system memory 810.

Bus subsystem 802 provides a mechanism for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of computer system 800 communicate with eachother as intended. Although bus subsystem 802 is shown schematically asa single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilizemultiple buses. Bus subsystem 802 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Forexample, such architectures may include an Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, which can beimplemented as a Mezzanine bus manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1standard, and the like.

Processing subsystem 804 controls the operation of computer system 800and may comprise one or more processing units 832, 834, etc. Aprocessing unit may include be one or more processors, including singlecore or multicore processors, one or more cores of processors, orcombinations thereof. In some embodiments, processing subsystem 804 caninclude one or more special purpose co-processors such as graphicsprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), or the like. In someembodiments, some or all of the processing units of processing subsystem804 can be implemented using customized circuits, such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs).

In some embodiments, the processing units in processing subsystem 804can execute instructions stored in system memory 810 or on computerreadable storage media 822. In various embodiments, the processing unitscan execute a variety of programs or code instructions and can maintainmultiple concurrently executing programs or processes. At any giventime, some or all of the program code to be executed can be resident insystem memory 810 and/or on computer-readable storage media 810including potentially on one or more storage devices. Through suitableprogramming, processing subsystem 804 can provide variousfunctionalities described above for dynamically modifying documents(e.g., webpages) responsive to usage patterns.

In certain embodiments, a processing acceleration unit 806 may beprovided for performing customized processing or for off-loading some ofthe processing performed by processing subsystem 804 so as to acceleratethe overall processing performed by computer system 800.

I/O subsystem 808 may include devices and mechanisms for inputtinginformation to computer system 800 and/or for outputting informationfrom or via computer system 800. In general, use of the term “inputdevice” is intended to include all possible types of devices andmechanisms for inputting information to computer system 800. Userinterface input devices may include, for example, a keyboard, pointingdevices such as a mouse or trackball, a touchpad or touch screenincorporated into a display, a scroll wheel, a click wheel, a dial, abutton, a switch, a keypad, audio input devices with voice commandrecognition systems, microphones, and other types of input devices. Userinterface input devices may also include motion sensing and/or gesturerecognition devices such as the Microsoft Kinect® motion sensor thatenables users to control and interact with an input device, theMicrosoft Xbox® 360 game controller, devices that provide an interfacefor receiving input using gestures and spoken commands. User interfaceinput devices may also include eye gesture recognition devices such asthe Google Glass® blink detector that detects eye activity (e.g.,“blinking” while taking pictures and/or making a menu selection) fromusers and transforms the eye gestures as input into an input device(e.g., Google Glass®). Additionally, user interface input devices mayinclude voice recognition sensing devices that enable users to interactwith voice recognition systems (e.g., Siri® navigator), through voicecommands.

Other examples of user interface input devices include, withoutlimitation, three dimensional (3D) mice, joysticks or pointing sticks,gamepads and graphic tablets, and audio/visual devices such as speakers,digital cameras, digital camcorders, portable media players, webcams,image scanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode reader 3D scanners, 3Dprinters, laser rangefinders, and eye gaze tracking devices.Additionally, user interface input devices may include, for example,medical imaging input devices such as computed tomography, magneticresonance imaging, position emission tomography, medical ultrasonographydevices. User interface input devices may also include, for example,audio input devices such as MIDI keyboards, digital musical instrumentsand the like.

User interface output devices may include a display subsystem, indicatorlights, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc. Thedisplay subsystem may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-panel device,such as that using a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma display, aprojection device, a touch screen, and the like. In general, use of theterm “output device” is intended to include all possible types ofdevices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system800 to a user or other computer. For example, user interface outputdevices may include, without limitation, a variety of display devicesthat visually convey text, graphics and audio/video information such asmonitors, printers, speakers, headphones, automotive navigation systems,plotters, voice output devices, and modems.

Storage subsystem 818 provides a repository or data store for storinginformation that is used by computer system 800. Storage subsystem 818provides a tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage medium forstoring the basic programming and data constructs that provide thefunctionality of some embodiments. Software (programs, code modules,instructions) that when executed by processing subsystem 804 provide thefunctionality described above may be stored in storage subsystem 818.The software may be executed by one or more processing units ofprocessing subsystem 804. Storage subsystem 818 may also provide arepository for storing data used in accordance with the presentinvention.

Storage subsystem 818 may include one or more non-transitory memorydevices, including volatile and non-volatile memory devices. As shown inFIG. 8, storage subsystem 818 includes a system memory 810 and acomputer-readable storage media 822. System memory 810 may include anumber of memories including a volatile main random access memory (RAM)for storage of instructions and data during program execution and anon-volatile read only memory (ROM) or flash memory in which fixedinstructions are stored. In some implementations, a basic input/outputsystem (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transferinformation between elements within computer system 800, such as duringstart-up, may typically be stored in the ROM. The RAM typically containsdata and/or program modules that are presently being operated andexecuted by processing subsystem 804. In some implementations, systemmemory 810 may include multiple different types of memory, such asstatic random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory(DRAM).

By way of example, and not limitation, as depicted in FIG. 8, systemmemory 810 may store application programs 812, which may include clientapplications, Web browsers, mid-tier applications, relational databasemanagement systems (RDBMS), etc., program data 814, and an operatingsystem 816. By way of example, operating system 816 may include variousversions of Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux operatingsystems, a variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-likeoperating systems (including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linuxoperating systems, the Google Chrome® OS, and the like) and/or mobileoperating systems such as iOS, Windows® Phone, Android® OS, BlackBerry®10 OS, and Palm® OS operating systems.

Computer-readable storage media 822 may store programming and dataconstructs that provide the functionality of some embodiments. Software(programs, code modules, instructions) that when executed by processingsubsystem 804 a processor provide the functionality described above maybe stored in storage subsystem 818. By way of example, computer-readablestorage media 822 may include non-volatile memory such as a hard diskdrive, a magnetic disk drive, an optical disk drive such as a CD ROM,DVD, a Blu-Ray® disk, or other optical media. Computer-readable storagemedia 822 may include, but is not limited to, Zip® drives, flash memorycards, universal serial bus (USB) flash drives, secure digital (SD)cards, DVD disks, digital video tape, and the like. Computer-readablestorage media 822 may also include, solid-state drives (SSD) based onnon-volatile memory such as flash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flashdrives, solid state ROM, and the like, SSDs based on volatile memorysuch as solid state RAM, dynamic RAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs,magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, and hybrid SSDs that use a combinationof DRAM and flash memory based SSDs. Computer-readable media 822 mayprovide storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for computer system 800.

In certain embodiments, storage subsystem 800 may also include acomputer-readable storage media reader 820 that can further be connectedto computer-readable storage media 822. Together and, optionally, incombination with system memory 810, computer-readable storage media 822may comprehensively represent remote, local, fixed, and/or removablestorage devices plus storage media for storing computer-readableinformation.

In certain embodiments, computer system 800 may provide support forexecuting one or more virtual machines. Computer system 800 may executea program such as a hypervisor for facilitating the configuring andmanaging of the virtual machines. Each virtual machine may be allocatedmemory, compute (e.g., processors, cores), I/O, and networkingresources. Each virtual machine typically runs its own operating system,which may be the same as or different from the operating systemsexecuted by other virtual machines executed by computer system 800.Accordingly, multiple operating systems may potentially be runconcurrently by computer system 800. Each virtual machine generally runsindependently of the other virtual machines.

Communications subsystem 824 provides an interface to other computersystems and networks. Communications subsystem 824 serves as aninterface for receiving data from and transmitting data to other systemsfrom computer system 800. For example, communications subsystem 824 mayenable computer system 800 to establish a communication channel to oneor more client devices via the Internet for receiving and sendinginformation from and to the client devices. For example, the accountmanagement system 112 depicted in FIG. 1 may receive user logininformation including input related to a training word from clientdevices using communication subsystem 824.

Communication subsystem 824 may support both wired and/or wirelesscommunication protocols. For example, in certain embodiments,communications subsystem 824 may include radio frequency (RF)transceiver components for accessing wireless voice and/or data networks(e.g., using cellular telephone technology, advanced data networktechnology, such as 3G, 4G or EDGE (enhanced data rates for globalevolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 family standards, or other mobilecommunication technologies, or any combination thereof), globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver components, and/or other components.In some embodiments communications subsystem 824 can provide wirednetwork connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) in addition to or instead of awireless interface.

Communication subsystem 824 can receive and transmit data in variousforms. For example, in some embodiments, communications subsystem 824may receive input communication in the form of structured and/orunstructured data feeds 826, event streams 828, event updates 830, andthe like. For example, communications subsystem 824 may be configured toreceive (or send) data feeds 826 in real-time from users of social medianetworks and/or other communication services such as Twitter® feeds,Facebook® updates, web feeds such as Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds,and/or real-time updates from one or more third party informationsources.

In certain embodiments, communications subsystem 824 may be configuredto receive data in the form of continuous data streams, which mayinclude event streams 828 of real-time events and/or event updates 830,that may be continuous or unbounded in nature with no explicit end.Examples of applications that generate continuous data may include, forexample, sensor data applications, financial tickers, networkperformance measuring tools (e.g. network monitoring and trafficmanagement applications), clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, and the like.

Communications subsystem 824 may also be configured to output thestructured and/or unstructured data feeds 826, event streams 828, eventupdates 830, and the like to one or more databases that may be incommunication with one or more streaming data source computers coupledto computer system 800.

Computer system 800 can be one of various types, including a handheldportable device (e.g., an iPhone® cellular phone, an iPad® computingtablet, a PDA), a wearable device (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounteddisplay), a personal computer, a workstation, a mainframe, a kiosk, aserver rack, or any other data processing system.

Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, thedescription of computer system 800 depicted in FIG. 8 is intended onlyas a specific example. Many other configurations having more or fewercomponents than the system depicted in FIG. 8 are possible. Based on thedisclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement thevarious embodiments.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described,various modifications, alterations, alternative constructions, andequivalents are also encompassed within the scope of the invention.Embodiments of the present invention are not restricted to operationwithin certain specific data processing environments, but are free tooperate within a plurality of data processing environments.Additionally, although embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed using a particular series of transactions and steps, it shouldbe apparent to those skilled in the art that the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to the described series of transactions andsteps. Various features and aspects of the above-described embodimentsmay be used individually or jointly.

Further, while embodiments of the present invention have been describedusing a particular combination of hardware and software, it should berecognized that other combinations of hardware and software are alsowithin the scope of the present invention. Embodiments of the presentinvention may be implemented only in hardware, or only in software, orusing combinations thereof. The various processes described herein canbe implemented on the same processor or different processors in anycombination. Accordingly, where components or modules are described asbeing configured to perform certain operations, such configuration canbe accomplished, e.g., by designing electronic circuits to perform theoperation, by programming programmable electronic circuits (such asmicroprocessors) to perform the operation, or any combination thereof.Processes can communicate using a variety of techniques including butnot limited to conventional techniques for interprocess communication,and different pairs of processes may use different techniques, or thesame pair of processes may use different techniques at different times.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, beevident that additions, subtractions, deletions, and other modificationsand changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broaderspirit and scope as set forth in the claims. Thus, although specificinvention embodiments have been described, these are not intended to belimiting. Various modifications and equivalents are within the scope ofthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, by a data storage system and from a client device, a requestby a requester to access first information of a set of informationmanaged by the data storage system; retrieving, from a cache in the datastorage system, an access token for the requester, the access tokenbeing associated with a plurality of roles that specify at least one ofone or more privileges or one or more access rights related to accessingof the set of information managed by the data storage system, the accesstoken indicating that the requester is authenticated by an identitymanagement (IDM) system; determining, by the data storage system andwithout communicating with the IDM system, and based on the at least oneof one or more privileges or one or more access rights specified by theplurality of roles associated with the access token, whether therequester is authorized to access the first information; and based ondetermining that the requester is authorized to access the firstinformation, sending, by the data storage system, the first informationto the client device.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the request is a first request; and wherein the method furthercomprises, prior to receiving the first request from the requester:receiving, by the data storage system and from the requester, a secondrequest to access second information of the set of information, thesecond request including user credential information of the requester;retrieving, by the data storage system and from the second request, theuser credential information; providing, by the data storage system, usercredential information of the requester to the IDM system; receiving, bythe data storage system from the IDM system, the access token from theIDM system; determining, based on receiving the access token from theIDM system, that the requester is authenticated by the IDM system basedon the user credential information; and based on determining that therequester is authenticated by the IDM system, storing, by the datastorage system, the access token in the cache.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the second informationis different from the first information.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 2, wherein the access token further include expiry timeinformation; and wherein the retrieving the access token from the cacheis based on the expiry time information indicating that the access tokenhas not expired.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, whereinthe access token is encrypted with an encryption key by the IDM, theencryption key being part of an encryption key pair comprising theencryption key and a decryption key; and wherein the method furthercomprises: receiving, by the data storage system and from the IDMsystem, a digital signature for verifying the access token; extracting,by the data storage system and from the access token, an encrypteddigital signature and the decryption key; decrypting, by the datastorage system, the encrypted digital signature; and based on thedecrypted digital signature matching the digital signature received fromthe IDM system, determining, by the data storage system, that therequester is authenticated by the IDM system.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:transmitting, by the data storage system to the requester, the accesstoken to enable the requester to include the access token in asubsequent request; and based on receiving the first request,extracting, by the data storage system and from the first request, theaccess token; and based on retrieval of the extracted access token fromthe cache, retrieving the plurality of roles associated with theextracted access token.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,further comprising determining whether the second request includes theaccess token, wherein the user credential information of the requesteris provided to the IDM system based on determining that the secondrequest does not include the access token.
 8. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the plurality of roles is determined by theIDM system based on information from an access control policy database;and wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the data storagesystem and from the IDM system, the plurality of roles associated withthe access token; and storing, by the data storage system in the cache,the plurality of roles and an indication that the plurality of roles isassociated with the access token.
 9. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the data storage system comprises a proxy server and aplurality of storage nodes; and wherein the method further comprises:identifying, by the proxy server, a first storage node from theplurality of storage nodes based on determining that the first storagenode stores the first information; retrieving, by the proxy server andfrom the first storage node, an access control list associated with thefirst information, the access control list indicating at least one rolepermitted to access the first information; and determining that therequester is authorized to access the first information based on aresult of comparing the access control list with the plurality of roles.10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the accesscontrol list indicates a scope of access of the first information forthe at least one role; and wherein the method further comprises:providing, by the proxy server to the requester via the client device,access to the first information based on the scope of access.
 11. Asystem comprising: a memory configured to store computer-executableinstructions; and at least one processor configured to access the memoryand execute the computer-executable instructions to perform operationsto: receive, from a client device, a request by a requester to accessfirst information of a set of information managed by system; retrieve,from a cache of the system, an access token for the requester, theaccess token being associated with a plurality of roles that specify atleast one of one or more privileges or one or more access rights relatedto accessing of the set of information managed by the system, the accesstoken indicating that the requester is authenticated by an identitymanagement (IDM) system; determine, without communicating with the IDMsystem, and based on the at least one of one or more privileges or oneor more access rights specified by the plurality of roles associatedwith the access token, whether the requester is authorized to access thefirst information; and based on determining that the requester isauthorized to access the first information, send the first informationto the client device.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the request isa first request; and wherein the at least one processor is configured toaccess the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions toperform operations to, prior to receiving the first request from therequester: receive, from the requester, a second request to accesssecond information of the set of information, the second requestincluding user credential information of the requester; retrieve, fromthe second request, the user credential information; provide usercredential information of the requester to the IDM system; receive, fromthe IDM system, the access token from the IDM system; determine, basedon receiving the access token from the IDM system, that the requester isauthenticated by the IDM system based on the user credentialinformation; and based on determining that the requester isauthenticated by the IDM system, store the access token in the cache.13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second information is differentfrom the first information.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the atleast one processor is configured to access the memory and execute thecomputer-executable instructions to perform operations to: transmit, tothe requester, the access token to enable the requester to include theaccess token in a subsequent request; and based on receiving the firstrequest, extract, from the first request, the access token; and based onretrieval of the extracted access token from the cache, retrieve theplurality of roles associated with the extracted access token.
 15. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configured toaccess the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions toperform operations to determine whether the second request includes theaccess token; and wherein the user credential information of therequester is provided to the IDM system based on determining that thesecond request does not include the access token.
 16. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the plurality of roles is determined by the IDM systembased on information from an access control policy database; and whereinthe at least one processor is configured to access the memory andexecute the computer-executable instructions to perform operations to:receive, from the IDM system, the plurality of roles associated with theaccess token; and store, in the cache, the plurality of roles and anindication that the plurality of roles is associated with the accesstoken.
 17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storingcomputer-executable instructions executable by one or more processors ofa system, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructionsthat cause the one or more processors to: receive, from a client device,a request by a requester to access first information of a set ofinformation managed by the system; retrieve, from a cache of the system,an access token for the requester, the access token being associatedwith a plurality of roles that specify at least one of one or moreprivileges or one or more access rights related to accessing of the setof information managed by the system, the access token indicating thatthe requester is authenticated by an identity management (IDM) system;determine, without communicating with the IDM system, and based on theat least one of one or more privileges or one or more access rightsspecified by the plurality of roles associated with the access token,whether the requester is authorized to access the first information; andbased on determining that the requester is authorized to access thefirst information, send the first information to the client device. 18.The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17,wherein the request is a first request; and wherein thecomputer-executable instructions comprise instructions that cause theone or more processors to, prior to receiving the first request from therequester: receive, from the requester, a second request to accesssecond information of the set of information, the second requestincluding user credential information of the requester; retrieve, fromthe second request, the user credential information; provide usercredential information of the requester to the IDM system; receive, fromthe IDM system, the access token from the IDM system; determine, basedon receiving the access token from the IDM system, that the requester isauthenticated by the IDM system based on the user credentialinformation; and based on determining that the requester isauthenticated by the IDM system, store the access token in the cache.19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17,wherein the one or more processors are coupled with a plurality ofstorage nodes; and wherein the computer-executable instructions compriseinstructions that cause the one or more processors to: identify a firststorage node from the plurality of storage nodes based on determiningthat the first storage node stores the first information; retrieve, fromthe first storage node, an access control list associated with the firstinformation, the access control list indicating at least one rolepermitted to access the first information; and determine that therequester is authorized to access the first information based on aresult of comparing the access control list with the plurality of roles.20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19,wherein the access control list indicates a scope of access of the firstinformation for the at least one role; and wherein thecomputer-executable instructions comprise instructions that cause theone or more processors to provide, to the requester via the clientdevice, access to the first information based on the scope of access.